1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sanitary protective liners for cooking grills, such as barbecue grills and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to liners made of foil that conform to the bar structure of the grill and are perforated to enable the free flow of gas and material across the plane of the grill.
2. Prior Art Statement
When cooking upon a grill over an open flame or coals, the bars of the grill become covered with the burnt drippings of the food being cooked and carbon deposits from the below lying flame. Accordingly, the grill must be periodically cleaned. This required maintenance is time consuming, dirty work which discourages people from cooking upon grills.
Cooking upon a grill has many well known benefits. For instance, cooking on a grill adds a smoked flavor to the prepared food and cooking on a grill produces food with less fat content than if the food were fried. Such benefits are typically lost when many traditional liners are placed over a grill. For example, one of the most common types of liners traditionally used to cover grills is aluminum foil. The reason why aluminum foil is so commonly used is because it is easy to place on a grill of any size and easy to remove. However, the aluminum foil is solid, thereby preventing both gases from raising through the grill and fatty drippings from flowing away from the food. As is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,572 to Wassermann, entitled TOOL FOR APPLYING A PROTECTIVE FOIL TO THE INDIVIDUAL RODS OF A BARBECUE GRILL, devices have been created in the prior an that cut aluminum foil into small pieces shaped to cover only the rod structures of a grill. Such devices are useful, but the application and removal of aluminum foil applied in such a manner is still highly time consuming and labor intensive.
To avoid the time and labor involved in applying foil to the individual rods of a grill, a person may use a performed perforated structure such as a broiling pan grid, wherein the broiling grid can be placed directly over the grill. Such broiling grids are commonplace in the kitchen and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 1,819,660 to Stone, entitled BROILING DEVICE. The problem with such devices is that they rarely match the exact size of the below lying grill. As such, the cooking surface is typically reduced. Additionally, many such broiling grids are not disposable and must be cleaned, thereby defeating the original purpose of the grill cover.
Disposable liners have been invented for various items such as paint trays, baking dishes and the like. Such a liner is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,425 to Hirs, entitled DISPOSABLE LINER FOR PAINT BOOTH GRATING. The disadvantages of such liners is that they are configured to fit over a specifically shaped structure and cannot be applied to a structure of a different shape. Accordingly, such liners are not adaptable for use over cooking grills such as those found in barbecues since barbecue grills are manufactured in a large number of shapes and styles. As such, barbecue grills have different bar sizes, different size spaces between bars, different cross bar configurations, and different surface areas.
A need, therefore, exists in the an for a disposable liner that can be placed over a grill despite the configuration of the grill. The need also exists for a grill liner that can fit over a large variety of grills and enables the free flow of gases and liquids in between the food on top of the grill and the flame below the grill.
A need also exists for a liner that acts as a sanitary barrier in between the food being cooked and the below lying grill, thereby preventing the food being cooked from becoming contaminated with carbon deposits and other debris present on the grill.